Really, I AM Dying!
by Eileen
Summary: The third part of the "I'm Dying" saga. **COMPLETE**
1. Default Chapter

**Really, I AM Dying!**

(A/N: Part 3 of the "I'm Dying" saga at last! This marks a return to the humor of the first part. No ice cream though.)

(Disclaimer: ah, come on, you know I don't own them. Except Brenda, that is.)

The police were taking Marco Sandoval, bio-terrorist, away when the X-Men showed up at the Brotherhood house.

"Looks like we missed the party." Cyclops observed. 

"Not to worry, we nailed the son of a--" Toad started to say, before a moan interrupted him.  
Brenda was slumped against the wall, clutching her head in agony.

Everyone rushed to Brenda's side . . . .

"What's wrong with her?" Toad asked.  
Storm placed her hand under the girl's chin and lifted her head. She saw something that alarmed her . . .

"We've got to get her out of here."

"What is it? What's wrong with her?"

"She's been infected . . ."

"With what?" Lance asked. "That's not Virus 10. Those spots are all wrong. It looks more like . . ."

"Measles?" Fred grimaced. "Ewwwwwww!"

"In the house," Storm directed them. "Everyone. This disease is very contagious, so as of now we're all under quarantine."  
That was not good.

"Boss Lady ain't gonna like that, yo." said Toad.  
"Neither vill the Professor." added Nightcrawler.

They brought Brenda inside and put her in the spare room. Then some phone calls were made.

Jean Grey took the call over at the Institute. "Is everything all right?" she asked. "That man didn't hurt anyone, did he?"

"No, but Brenda appears to be infected with measles...."

"What?"  
"We're going to have to stay here at least until the doctor comes, perhaps longer."

"Uh oh..."

It had been less than five minutes, and already the tensions were beginning to build.  
"Nobody touches my stuff, you hear? Nobody!"

"Chill, Toad."

"Yeah, like, who'd want to touch your slimy stuff anyway?" Kitty said.

At the Institute, Xavier wondered whether or not to call Brenda's grandmother and give her the news. He didn't want to unnecessarily panic her, but on the other hand, this was a serious disease, and might have long-term consequences.

So he picked up the phone . . . and got the answering machine.

He was starting to leave a message when someone picked up the phone on the other end. "Hello?"

"Mrs. Ellis? I'm afraid I have a bit of bad news . . ."

"What is it?" Brenda's grandmother was instantly nervous.

"Oh, it's not that bad. But I thought you should know anyway. It seems Brenda has the measles."

"Good heavens..."

"She's at a friend's house right now ."

"Thank goodness for that."

"I'll see if I can have her call you as soon as possible."

Back at the Brotherhood's house, things were getting a little out of hand.  
Make that a **lot** out of hand.

"Hey, Toad, give that back!"  
"No way! I saw it first, yo!"

CRASH!

"Knock it off!" Lance ordered, pulling Toad away from Spyke.  
"What's with you two?" Rogue sighed, holding Spyke back.

"He took something of mine, and I want it back!"

"No, I took back something of _mine_, yo!"

"Hand it over, whatever it is."

"Yeah, I'm hungry." Blob moaned. "I can't eat with you guys yellin'."

"Better go easy on the food," Lance said. "It's gotta feed twice as many people now, and we can't go out and buy more."  
"We can't?"  
"Duh! That's what quarantine means!"

Kitty started exploring their refrigerator. "Eeeewwwww! This stuff is, like, green!"

Toad blushed. "Sorry. Been a while since we cleaned it out."

"It doesn't look like there's anything in here worth eating!"

"Great." Cyclops groaned.

There were some loud banging noises from the next room. "Uh oh."

"Oh, relax, guys. It's just the heater dying again."

Storm didn't like the sound of that . . . . "Is this something that's easy to fix?"  
"Heck, no!" Toad said. "Sometimes we gotta kick it four or five times before it does anything. Last month it died and the guy was forever getting out here to fix it . . ."

Kitty didn't like the sound of that either.

"Great," Scott said. "It's like Survivor without the island."  
"Or the bikinis," Pietro pointed out.

"On the bright side, there's no bugs either." Storm pointed out.

"Aw, geez, how's a guy supposed to eat around here?" Toad complained.

This was not good. In fact, the word "disaster" came to Ororo's mind frequently as she waited for the doctor to call her back.


	2. Things Get Worse

**Really, I AM Dying! (pt. 2)**

Back at the mansion, Xavier, Magneto, and Wolverine were discussing the situation.  
"I know all the kids here have had their booster shots," Logan said. "What about your bunch?"

"All except for Toad,"Magneto said,"and he was scheduled for his tomorrow."

"That's not good."

"Definitely not."

No, it was not good, as Todd was with Brenda at that very moment.  
"How're you doing, babe?"  
She looked up at him. "I feel horrible."  
"You want me to bring you anything? A bowl of soup or a glass of juice or something?"  
"No, but could you read to me?"  
"Sure. What?"  
"Something with Rincewind in it," she said. "I like Rincewind."  
"Okay." He rooted around on his bedroom floor and found _The Last Continent_.

He was halfway through Chapter 6 when he started to cough.

"Scuse me," he said, putting the book down and going into the bathroom for a glass of water.  
While he was there he happened to glance up into the mirror . . . and freaked at what he saw.

"Ah, no," he moaned. "No, no, no, no!"  
"You gonna be in there long?"  
"Huh?"

"I said, are you gonna be in there long?"

By this time he had identified the voice. "Lance?"

"Yeah, c'mon, I gotta go!"  
"Uh . . ." Todd looked at his reflection again. There was no way he could hide this. "I think I've got that bug."

**"What?"**  
Toad opened the door and showed him . . .

"Hoo boy."

Brenda looked up as the door opened. "Todd? Is that you?"  
"Yeah, but I got a bit of bad news," he said.  
When she saw his face, she didn't need to ask. "Oh, you poor dear."

"Yeah, I've got it."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to--"  
"Ah, don't worry about it. Least I'll never get it again." He sat down in the chair again. "They're gonna bring the rollaway in here so they don't have to keep running back and forth. So I guess we can read to each other."

"What do you want to read first?"

"Let's do more of _The Last Continent_. You do a really great Mrs. Whitlow."  
"Oi say, do Oi really?" Brenda said, in the "voice" of the Unseen University housekeeper.

"Yep."

The situation downstairs was not quite so tranquil. In fact, it was close to becoming a riot . . .

Finally the doctor showed up.  
"Oh, thank the Goddess," Storm muttered under her breath.

"'Bout time you showed up." Lance said.

"What exactly is--" the doctor began, and then a water balloon hit him smack in the face.

"Hoo boy." Cyclops muttered under his breath.

He looked up to see a rapidly disappearing Quicksilver and shook his head in amazement. "Some people."

The water-balloon barrage was only the beginning, however.

"Is it always like this?" the doctor asked Cyclops as they went upstairs to see Toad.

"I wouldn't know. I don't live here."

"Can you calm them down long enough to let me examine them? "the doctor asked, ducking another water balloon.

"It's okay, they're not aiming at you. I'll see if I can lead them outside."

"Please do."

The Brotherhood members weren't throwing water balloons anymore. Oh, they were still balloons, but the liquid they were filled with now wasn't water.

"Ewwwwwww!"

"This is, like, tomato sauce!" Shadowcat complained, as she looked down at her stained uniform.

"All right, knock it off!"

"You're at **our** house now, loser! You play by our rules!"  
Another balloon bomb hit them, this one filled with chicken soup.

"Knock it off!" Lance whispered impatiently to Pietro. "You'll get the doc mad at us!"

"But I'm **bored**!"

"I don't care! The doctor's trying to help us! Now straighten up!"

Pietro reluctantly complied . . . and a spike just missed his head by less than half an inch.

"OK," the doctor said, "now that that's out of the way...."

Upstairs was relatively quiet. That is, except for Toad and Brenda, who were having fun with the "UU faculty on a desert island" scene. Todd did most of the senior wizards, while Brenda did Mrs. Whitlow and the narrator. The effect was most unnerving to someone who had no idea what was going on.  
"How many people did you say were here?"

"Including you and me?"

"Well, yes."  
"They're all outside now, so that leaves us and--"

BLEAH!

"That didn't sound good."

"Ah don't feel so good." Rogue moaned, leaning over the bathroom sink.

"Oh, no, not you too . . ."

"Yeah, 'fraid so."

"But I thought you had your shots!" Ororo said.

"Tell mah stomach that!"

"It may not be the same illness," the doctor suggested. "Let me take a look at her, just to be sure."

Rogue kept vomiting . . . .

Outside, the balloon war came to an abrupt end when Storm shouted, "Enough!"

The combatants stopped what they were doing and looked over at her.  
"You all need to come in the house right now," she continued.

"We're busted."

When they came inside, the doctor took Ororo aside and told her, "I've got good news and bad news."  
Not the kind of thing you want to hear from a doctor. "What is it?"  
"Rogue definitely doesn't have measles."  
"Is that the good news or the bad news?"  
"That's the good news. The bad news is . . ."

"What?"

"Oh, no, don't tell me we're all gonna die! Again!" Pietro moaned.

Kurt rolled his eyes.

Just then a car pulled up out front.

"Who is it?"

"I forgot!" Pietro's voice took on a note of panic. "Wanda was at the library! We have to tell her not to come in."

Wanda stepped out of the car. In a flash, Pietro was at her side.  
"Uh, we have a little problem . . ."


	3. . . . And Worse . . .

**Really, I AM Dying! (pt. 3)**

"What is it, Boo?" Wanda asked her brother.

He filled her in on the whole situation, in one gasp of breath.  
"Whoa, slow down! Who's sick?"  
"Brenda. Toad's girlfriend, English chick. She showed up just after that Sandoval guy did . . ."*  
"He was here?"  
"Yeah, but the cops picked him up so that's okay. But now Brenda and Toad have the measles, and I think something's wrong with Rogue, too, so don't come in."  
"Should I call a hospital?"

"No, there's a doctor here. But we're under quarantine, so no one can come in or out. I probably shouldn't even be out here talking to you . . ."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"For now, just stay away. You only just got over that Virus 10 thing.** I don't want you to get sick again."  
"But where will I go?"  
"I don't know..."

As if on cue, the phone rang.

Jean picked it up. "Hello?"  
"Do you know where Wanda is?" asked Xavier from the other end.

"Yes, she's outside. Pietro's talking to her. Why?"

  
"What's wrong with Rogue?" Kurt asked the doctor.  
"She's got a combination of stomach flu and measles." the doctor explained. "And so does practically everyone else here..."  
"WHAT? But nobody else has gotten sick!"  
  
"Tell Wanda to proceed directly to the Institute at once." Xavier instructed Jean over the phone.  
"Will do." Jean ran outside and passed on the message.  
"But what about Boo?"  
"I'm afraid he has to stay here."  
  
The conference at the curb was becoming quite animated, but it was nothing compared to what was going on **inside** the house.  
"So we're all going to get it?" Scott asked.  
"Even though we've had our shots?" Evan pointed out.  
The doctor nodded grimly. "It's a new strain; the shots aren't effective against it. It's possible that not everyone will develop symptoms--"  
"Isn't that what you said **last** week?" Kitty said. "This is Virus 10 all over again! Only this won't kill us."  
"Um, actually . . ."

"What?"

There was a thump as someone hit the floor.  
"Oh, great! Here we go again!"

"Let's hope not."

They rushed over and found that it was . . .

. . . a chair Toad had accidentally tipped over.

"What are you doing downstairs?"  
"I needed a drink of water. Someone's in the upstairs bathroom."  
Toad looked awful. "I'm gonna die..."

"Oh, God, don't start this again," Lance complained. "You're always moaning about how you're dying!"  
"Well, I am!"

"Keep this up and you really will be dying . . . BECAUSE I'LL KILL YOU!!!"

"Nobody's killing anybody while I'm here," Storm said. She wished Mystique were here. It would be helpful to have another adult to keep the peace--or try to, anyway.

*see "I'm STILL Dying!"

**also "I'm STILL Dying!"


	4. Who's Sick (And Who's Not)

**Really, I AM Dying! (pt. 4)**

Back at the Institute . . .

Wanda arrived, via taxi. She was relieved to see her father was all right, but she was terribly worried about her brother.

She approached her father and Professor Xavier. "What's going to happen? To Boo, and the rest of them? Are they going to die?"  
"No, of course not." Xavier smiled sympathetically. "The quarantine is just a precaution. Most of them might not even get sick . . ."

"Let's hope so." Wanda said.

Unfortunately, that proved not to be true.  
In the next 24 hours, there were three new cases of the flu/measles hybrid. It seemed to be especially virulent in the younger students.

Kitty spent half the next day coughing . . . and so did Pietro, and Spyke.  
"This is too scary," said a visibly distressed Toad.

With the latest developments, the situation was getting worse by the minute. They were running out of beds already, and if anyone else got sick, they'd have to sleep on the floor.

"Oh, man." Toad groaned.

He and Brenda had given up on reading, for now, and were using up too much energy just trying to stay awake. "You OK, Brenda?"

"No, I'm not," she grumbled. "I'm tired, I ache all over, and I have these horrid spots on my face. I shouldn't have come home . . ."

"Now what kind of talk is that?" said Toad.

Brenda looked at him, and then started to cry.  
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry I'm in such a rotten mood, I'm sorry I made everyone ill, I'm sorry--"  
"Hey, hey! It's not your fault!" He offered her a Kleenex.

She blew her nose with an unladylike snort.  
"How bad is it down there?" she asked.  
"Pretty bad."

"Is anyone dead?"

"No, nothing like that. But some of them are pretty miserable."

"Ooh."

Actually, the most miserable ones were the ones who **weren't** sick.  
"There's nothing to eat in this place!"

"Of course not, Fred, you ate it all!"

"Woulda been nice if you'd saved some for us."

"Hey! I was hungry!"

"We're all gonna be pretty hungry in a while," said a somewhat woozy Cyclops.

"Are you okay?" Rogue asked him. "You don't look so good."  
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just haven't eaten in about twelve hours."

"Twelve hours? Uh oh."

Meanwhile, Lance and Kurt were fighting over who should take care of Kitty. And it was driving Kitty up the wall...

"She likes **me**!"  
"No she doesn't, she likes **me** better!"  
"Stupid blue plush toy!"  
"Rock head!"

"** _BOTH OF YOU JUST SHUT UP!!!!_**"

They turned and looked at her.  
"Like, I'm not feeling good as it is, and you two are just making me feel worse."

They both blushed.

"I'll go," Lance said.  
"No, I'll go."  
"No, you stay with her. I'll go."  
"No, you can stay."

"Lower the volume, guys." Kitty groaned. "I have a headache."

The argument then turned to rude gestures, and then to pushing and shoving.

"Knock it off!" Kitty snapped. "Why don't you **both** go? You're driving me crazy!"

Lance and Kurt flinched.

"It's your fault!" Lance snapped, as they walked away. "You upset her!"  
"No, you did!"  
"No, **you** did!"  
"AAAGGHH!" Kitty exclaimed, and buried her head under the pillow. "BOTH OF YOU JUST GO!"

Elsewhere in the house, the doctor was examining Fred.

"I'm okay," the boy insisted.

"Let me be the judge of that."

When he had finished, he actually had some good news. "You seem to be on the way to recovery."

"But I wasn't even sick!"

"Wanna bet?" Lance quipped.

Not since the Virus 10 thing, and that was weeks ago!"

"Keep it down, Fred." Toad groaned. "I got a headache, yo."

"Why don't you stay upstairs with your girlfriend?"  
"Hey, don't yell at me!"

"Why not?"

"Cause I'm sick and I'm miserable and I've had enough!"  
"Oh."  
The doctor, meanwhile, had turned up one more case of the disease--in the most unlikely person.

"What?!!"

"I'm sorry," he said, "but you've got this illness yourself."

Cyclops almost had a stroke. "But I..."

"Get the sleeping bags," Lance ordered.

"This should be fun." Rogue quipped.

"I'm not finished," the doctor said. "There's still one more person I have to examine."

"Who?"

Lance slowly backed away from him. "Oh, no. No. I'm fine. Just fine . . ."

"Come on, this won't hurt at all."

"Don't touch me!" He tried to run, but tripped over Toad, who was lying limply on the floor, and landed face-first in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room.

He got up and tried to run again. Fred knocked him down and sat on him till the doctor came over. "Sorry, man, but it's for your own good."

The doctor approached Lance. "This won't hurt a bit."  
Lance had heard **that** before. He tried to squirm free, but Fred wouldn't budge.  
The examination was brief, and the doctor concluded, "Yours is a mild case compared to the others."

"What? But I'm fine! I don't even--" He stopped short as he looked down at himself.

He had spots.

"I'll, um . . . share with someone," he offered. "I've got a queen-sized bed in my room. As long as you don't steal the covers, it's okay."

"Just as long as it's not Kitty's room." Kurt piped up.

"Actually, I was thinking we'd put Kitty in with Rogue . . . whose room is she in?"

Fred scratched his head. "Uh . . . I dunno."

"Uh . . . go find out?"

Fred reluctantly got up.

"Well, this has been fun," said Rogue.

"Hey," Toad said suddenly.  
They all looked at him.  
"Wasn't Mystique with us when we came home?"  
The rest of the Brotherhood looked at each other. They thought she had been . . .  
"Where'd she go?"  
  


(Where indeed? We shall see in the next chapter! Stay tuned!)


	5. What Happened to Mystique

**Really, I AM Dying! (pt. 5)**

The woman had been sitting in the same spot all night. She hadn't even gotten up to get a cup of coffee or go to the bathroom or anything.   
Manny Ramirez (yes, like the baseball player, he told everyone), who worked the ticket counter, was worried. He hoped she wasn't dead--they'd had a guy die while waiting for his bus once, and the cops asked too many questions. Especially since the guy had been sitting there for three hours before anyone noticed he was dead.  
Manny approached the woman cautiously. "Hey," he said. "Lady. You o--"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" the woman screamed.

"O--okay." Well, at least she wasn't dead.  
Then Manny looked at her and noticed she was covered in some kind of rash. Every inch of exposed skin bore purplish-red spots, like some weird plague . . .

He lunged for the phone and dialed 911.

Within two hours, there were four police cars, two ambulances, and a battalion of paramedics on the scene. The bus station had been shut down and cordoned off, and all the passengers were being screened.

Mystique coughed. "Where am I?" she asked.  
An EMT was standing over her. "You're in the bus terminal," he said. "Do you remember how you got here?"  
She shook her head. The last thing she remembered was . . . getting out of the car, in front of her house.   
"What's your name?"  
She said the first thing that came to mind. "Raven Darkholme."

"Okay, Raven, we're gonna take you to the hospital now, to get checked out."  
"No . . ." she moaned. She had to go . . . where? Then she remembered. Mississippi. To see her baby. She hadn't seen her little girl in almost a year now . . .

"Raven? "the EMT repeated.

She looked at him without seeming to really see him.  
"I have to go see Marie," she said. "I haven't seen her in so long."  
"And Marie is?"  
"My little girl. I left her with Irene when I went to Germany. She's probably forgotten all about me . . ."

Mystique was clearly not herself.

"Okay, we'll take you to see your little girl. But first you have to come with us to the hospital--"  
**"NO!"**

She jumped to her feet . . . though she didn't stay there long. She was far too weak to stand.

The EMTs caught her. "Get her onto a stretcher," the first EMT said. "We've got to get her to a hospital right away."  
"I'll say," said his partner. "She is one sick lady."

Back at the Institute, things were getting tense.  
"I should have gone with them," Jean kept muttering to herself.  
"Now, Jean . . ."

"I should be there!" she insisted.  
"You'd just be sick yourself."  
"It's better than just sitting here and doing nothing!"

_Jean? _Kitty's voice questioned inside her head.

_What is it?_  
_You wouldn't want to be here right now, anyway. It's, like, everybody's on each other's nerves!_

_Is it really that bad?_

_Are you kidding?_

_Never mind._

_Oh,_ she added. _How's Scott?_  
_He and Lance are, like, driving each other crazy! Somehow they ended up in the same room._  
_Not a smart idea._  
_Well, it's not as if we have a lot of beds here. Everyone has to double up._

_Uh oh._

_Don't worry, I'm with Rogue._

_Good. Keep me posted._

Wanda came rushing in. "There's something you have to see on TV!"  
Jean turned her attention to the girl without breaking mental contact with Kitty. "What is it?"  
"Just come see!"

Jean followed Wanda . . .

It was a news bulletin.  
"An unidentified woman has been hospitalized . . ."

"Oh God." Wanda gasped. "That's Mystique."

"How can you tell?"

"Because she's wearing my jacket."

"Which hospital? What's her condition? Did they say whether or not it's--"

"Shhhhh!"

"Doctors are still unsure at this time what the mysterious illness is, though they have ruled out smallpox and Ebola as possible causes. We'll have more on this story as it develops."

"Oh God." the whole room seemed to say in unison.

"We have to go get her, before they find out she's a mutant," said Magneto.

_Kitty? Are you watching this?_  
_Yeah. At least we know what happened to Mystique. Is she gonna die?_

_We...we don't know yet._

Xavier got on the phone to the hospital . . .

 . . . while Magneto raced to Mystique's side.

"Let me in," he said. "I'm her husband."


	6. A Bit of Help (Maybe)

**Really, I AM Dying! (pt. 5)**

(A/N: This was written back-and-forth on a message board, so if some things get lost in the shuffle, let me know. I value your input!)

"Hold on." one of the security guards said, phoning his superiors for instructions. He came back in a few minutes. "We need to see some ID, sir."  
Magneto currently had IDs in four different names, none of them the one he'd been born with. He picked the most up-to-date one--it was also the most flattering photo.

The guard scanned it. "Okay," he said. "We just need you to sign some paperwork, Mr. . . . Magnus, is it?"

"I'll sign anything you want. Just let me see my wife, please."

"That won't be necessary." a second guard said. "We just wanted to confirm that your ID matches hospital records."

"I didn't know there were any records. Has she been awake?"

Back at the Brotherhood house . . . things were approaching the critical point.  
"Give me the remote!"  
"No! I'm watching this!"  
"But you've watched it three times in a row! Can't we find something else?"  
"You got something against _Fight Club_, Summers?"  
Scott sighed. "No, but I want to watch something different for a change, Lance. Now let me have the remote."  
"It's my TV!"

Just then Storm confiscated the remote. "That's enough! You're supposed to be resting, not arguing!"  
"It was his fault!" both boys said at the same time.

Storm just rolled her eyes. "I don't want to hear another **sound** from this room." She turned and walked out, still clutching the remote.  
Lance and Scott just looked at each other in confusion.  
  
In the next room, Brenda and Toad were holding hands.  
They were the only boy/girl pair sharing a room, but Ororo wasn't worried. They were only children, after all.

Toad was eager to hear Brenda read more of "The Last Continent", but she was too sick to oblige.

"Can I get you anything?"

"Oooooooh..." she groaned in response.

"What hurts?"  
"What **doesn't** hurt?"

"That bad, huh?"

"How long is this supposed to last?"

"I don't know..."

It was clear that Brenda had the worst of it. How long it would last was still unknown.  
Not everyone got the disease.

But that was hardly a comfort to Xavier, who worried about his students.

"How many are infected so far?" he asked Hank.

"According to my last conversation with Storm . . . everyone except herself, Kurt, and Blob."

"I was afraid of that..."

The front doorbell rang.  
"I'll get it," Hank said. He opened the front door . . .  
. . . and came face to face with a rather stern-looking older woman.  
"Can I help you?"  
"Where is she?" Martha Ellis demanded.

"Beg pardon?"

"Brenda. Where is she? What friend's house?"  
"I'm afraid I don't know what you're--"  
"Mrs. Ellis," Xavier said, from behind him. "I wasn't expecting you."

"Professor?"

"There's no need to worry," he said hastily. "Brenda's in good hands."  
"I want to see for myself," the woman snapped. Then she softened a bit. "It's just . . . she left so suddenly, I was worried there was something wrong . . ."

"Would you like to come in?"

"Yes, thank you." She stepped across the threshold and accompanied the Professor to his office. "Tell me what's wrong," she said. "How bad is it?"

"There are only three people at the house not infected with the virus..."

"I take it Brenda's not one of the three?"

Xavier shook his head. "Unfortunately not. In fact, she was one of the first to be infected."

"How serious is it?"

"Very."

"Take me there. I need to see her, I need to know she's all right . . ." She started pacing and fretting.

"If she's going, I'm going with her," Wanda said. "I'm sick of sitting around waiting for something to happen. I want to help."

Magneto looked at her. "It's too dangerous," he said.  
"Come on, I had measles when I was three!"  
"So did your brother! This isn't ordinary measles. I won't let you expose yourself to--"

"Dad, please..."

Magneto was unwilling to let her go. He had just come back from visiting Mystique in the hospital (where she would have to stay another few days), and the thought of his little girl ending up like that . . .  
"No," he said.

Wanda turned to Xavier. "I just want to help," she said. "You've only got three people running around taking care of everyone else! Can't you use another pair of hands?"  
Xavier wasn't sure how to respond.

Wanda waited tensely for their answer . . . .

"I don't think we can risk anyone else being exposed," said Hank,who had just called the house for an update.  
"Brenda and Rogue are pretty sick, and a couple of the others are getting worse."

"That's it, I'm going." Before Magneto or Xavier could stop her, Wanda rushed through the door, and Martha was at her heels.

"Not so fast, child."

"But I have to!"

"Not at the expense of your own life you don't."

"What are you talking about?" Wanda looked panic-stricken. "They're all right, aren't they?"

"That's not the point." Martha insisted. "The others are all infected, and you could catch it from them if you're not careful...."

"Then I'll be careful! I need to be doing something, and they need someone to take care of them! Please let me go!"

Martha looked at the girl's face and saw that she was obviously terrified. "What sort of precautions should we take?" she asked.

Xavier sighed. "I suppose," he said, "I could find something."

"I still think it's a bad idea." Magneto insisted.

"Perhaps not. Ah, here we are." He found a treatment the professor had originally developed for anthrax. "This vaccine should protect you against the virus. You'll also be wearing masks and gloves."

"You don't miss a thing, do you?" Mrs.Ellis said.

"What should we bring, medicine-wise?" Wanda asked.

After a quick consult with Cerebro, Xavier said "I think that's already been taken care of."****


	7. Gran Takes Charge

**Really, I AM Dying! (pt. 7)**

Back at the Brotherhood house . . .  something went thump.

"What was that?" 

Whatever it was, it sounded big and heavy, but not breakable.  
It turned out to be Fred. He'd been trying to get something from the refrigerator and had tripped over someone lying in the middle of the floor.

"Uhhhhhhhhhh." Fred groaned.

"Get off me! Get OFF me!" screamed a clearly distressed Lance.

"I thought you were in bed!"  
"Yeah, I was. But I had to . . . uh . . . you know."

"Uhhhhhh," said Fred. "Did you?"  
"What?"  
"Uh . . . what you said."

"Yeah.I was on my way back to bed when--"

"What's going on?" Ororo demanded.

All Fred could manage was a muttered "uuuuuuugggh".

"I'm okay," Lance said.  
Ororo gave him a pointed look. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"  
"Yeah, I was, but I got up to . . . you know."  
"No," she said. "I don't."

He nodded in the direction of the bathroom.

"Which end?" she asked.  
"Uh . . . both, actually."  
She looked him over. "Yes, I think you're getting worse. You'd better go back to bed right away."  
"Aw, can't I just sleep here? Summers snores like a rabid warthog."

Ororo shook her head and told the others, "Help me get Fred up."

It took four people to get him upright, in the end. And even then Fred threatened to go over again.

Something loud was going on upstairs now . . . prompting Storm to rush upstairs to check it out.

"You can let go of me now," Fred said.

"I don't think so." Toad retorted.

"Why? I'm okay. Unless I caught something from **you**."

"WHAT?!!" He backed away slowly . . . then ran up the stairs as if they were on fire.

Upstairs, Brenda was trying to read again. She wasn't having much luck, though . . . just couldn't get the voices right.

"Oh, bugger," she sighed in disappointment. 

"Allow me." Todd took the book from her and began reading. He was **very** good at voices.

Brenda listened with delight as Todd picked up the story where she'd left off. He was so good with accents, it was scary.

When he was finished, he tossed the book aside and lay back down again.  
He'd never been this close to Brenda before. Well . . . not like this, anyway. If he pushed his bed up next to hers, it would be like they were sleeping together in one big bed.  
The thought made him feel all shivery inside--or maybe that was the virus.

He looked at her face . . . 

The spots were getting worse. They were expanding into huge red blobs.

"Todd?"

"Yeah, babe?"

"Why are you giving me that odd look?"

He didn't know whether he should tell her or not. Finally, though, he said, "Well, Brenda . . ."

Then there was this big crash from the room next door, and raised voices.

"What was that?"

Then footsteps coming up the stairs . . .

Todd groaned, "Not again."

Lance and Scott were in the middle of the room . . .

"What _is_ it with you two?" Toad grumbled.

The TV/VCR combo had been shoved onto the floor, and was probably broken. An avalanche of tapes had followed.   
This was no longer just a disagreement. These guys were getting physical.

"Don't you two ever stop?"Brenda sighed.

They tried to separate the two combatants, but it wasn't an easy task.

"Lemme go!" Lance snapped. "I'll beat him to a pulp!"

"You started it!" Scott shouted at him.

"Both of you shut up!" Toad snapped.

But there was no shutting them up.  
"This is all **your** fault!" said Scott.  
"My fault? Nobody asked you to come rescue us! You deserve everything you get!"

So Storm and Toad physically separated them and put them in different rooms. This meant that Lance was now rooming with Evan and Scott was sharing with Pietro, but hopefully it would keep the argument level down to just below house-rocking.

Toad went back to Brenda . . .

"It's okay," he said. "We stopped them killing each other."

"Thank goodness." Brenda sighed.

"Now where were we?"  
Brenda never got a chance to answer, as Toad suddenly dropped to his knees.

"Todd? What's wrong?"

"C-can't breathe . . .choke . . ."

She wanted to go get help, but she couldn't leave him. So she mentally contacted Jean . . .

_We need help! Something's wrong with Todd--_  
_Help is coming. Wanda and . . . your grandmum._  
_Gran? Here? But there's no way she could have known!_

_It's a long story . . ._

_How long ago did they leave?_  
_They should be almost there by now._

_Do they know that I have the virus?_

_I think they know that **everyone** does._

_Poor Gran . . ._

_Don't worry, they're protected._

_How?_

Then she heard the sound of a car pulling up.

_Sorry, I have to go . . ._

_Good luck._  
There was the sound of a door opening and closing.

Storm went out to meet Wanda and Mrs. Ellis. "What's going on?"

"I'm worried about Brenda." Mrs. Ellis said.

"You don't need to be concerned. I have everything under control . . ."  
Something in the house exploded.

Everyone ducked.

"What was that?" Wanda asked.

"I don't know, but I don't like the sound of it." Before anyone could stop her, Mrs. Ellis bolted into the house . . . and was immediately met by the sight of Fred, Pietro, and Lance thrashing about on the kitchen floor, fighting with each other over some stupid thing (which wasn't all that unusual for them).

She didn't like the looks of them. Big red blobs all over . . . looked dangerous, that.

"Uh . . . hi?"

"All of you, back to bed, right now," she ordered. "You're ill."

Lance started to say something, but she wasn't having any of it.  
"Go on now!"

The three of them immediately marched upstairs . . . and Mrs. Ellis followed. She wanted to see where they were keeping Brenda.

Brenda saw her coming up the stairs. "Hello, Gran."

"Thank heavens you're all right." Mrs.Ellis said . . . then she noticed the spots. "Oh, not you too!"  
"Practically everybody," Brenda said. "Come and have a look at Todd, would you? I think he's in a bad way . . ."

And indeed he was . . . He was lying on his half of the pushed-together bed, gasping for air.

Mrs. Ellis immediately rushed to his side.

"Get me some hot water!"

"Right away, Gran."

Mrs. Ellis looked him over carefully.

"Hi, Mrs. Ellis," Toad managed to croak.

"You don't look much like your mother," she said.

He coughed violently . . .

"You sound a bit like your grandfather, though," she said with a bit of a smile. "Not to worry, I have everything in hand."

"You knew my grandpa?"

"Oh, everyone knew old Alf. Especially down at the pub. He told a lot of interesting stories . . . or so I've heard, anyway."

"That sounds like Grandpa all right."

"I didn't know you knew him. You must have been quite young when he died."  
"I think it was right before my mom did."

Mrs. Ellis shook her head sympathetically. "Poor dear." She then began to examine him. The poor child was burning with fever . . . and she didn't like the sound of his breathing either.

Brenda came back with the kettle, and filled a bowl with hot water.

"Here we are, dear," Mrs. Ellis said to Todd.

Todd looked at the bowl and asked, "What's this for?"

"You're supposed to breathe the steam. It helps with the cough."

"You sure this'll work?" Toad asked skeptically.

"Always has done before."

So Toad took a deep breath... and let it out again in a series of hacking coughs.  
"I don't think it's working," he said, when he had caught his breath.

"Try again," Mrs. Ellis urged him.

_I'm dying,_ Todd thought. _I have to be. No one can feel this bad and live._

"Now, Todd," he heard Brenda saying, "just relax . . ."

_Relax? How am I supposed to--_  
But he found it easier as he breathed in the warm steam. Little by little the spasms that had caused his lungs to seize up were releasing him . . . and his head seemed to be clearing.

"Wow," he said, when he could finally speak. "That really does work!"

"Gran's very smart about these things," Brenda said.

"What about the others?" Todd asked.  
As if on cue, there was a shout from down the hall, and something wrapped in a blue comforter streaked by them.

"That's gotta be Pietro."

Wanda came running after him, calling, "Boo! Come back here! It doesn't taste **that** bad!"

"Yes it does!"

Halfway down the stairs, the comforter slipped to the floor, but in his panic Pietro didn't notice. Nor was he aware that Mrs. Ellis had picked it up and was following him.

"Pietro Maximoff, I presume?"

"Yeah, who are you?"  
She smiled. "I'm the person who's got your duvet."  
Pietro looked down and realized he wasn't wearing anything. He blushed. "Whoops."  
"Now tell me," she said, once he'd got it back on, "what is going on."  
"Huh?"  
"Why were you running around like a crazy person just now?"  
"Oh, **that**."

He cleared his throat and said, "Wanda's trying to kill me!"

"What?"

"She wants to poison me!"  
"Oh?"

"I do not!"

"You would be Wanda, I take it?" Mrs. Ellis asked.

"Yep."

"And why do you want to kill him?"

"I do NOT want to kill him! I'm just trying to get him to take his medicine," Wanda insisted.

"I don't **want** it!" Pietro sulked.

Wanda shook her head. "My brother can be so stubborn sometimes, Mrs. Ellis . . ."

The older woman smiled. "Really? Well, I know how to deal with stubborn ones!"

Giving Pietro her sternest no-nonsense look, Mrs. Ellis said firmly, "I suggest you take the medicine."  
"But I don't like the taste!"  
"It's medicine! It's supposed to taste bad! That's to stop you guzzling it down like Coca-Cola." She folded her arms and stared at him. She could wait him out.

Pietro tried to stare her down, but after a few minutes he realized he couldn't outlast her, so he gave up.  
"Okay, but can I have some ice cream to wash out the taste afterwards?"  
"If we have any."

He shut his eyes and took the medicine . . .

It was **worse** that he had expected. "You're gonna KILL me!"

"I don't have time for this," Mrs. Ellis said. She turned to Wanda. "I leave him in your hands."

Wanda nodded and went to see if there was any ice cream.  
  
The next bedroom was a disaster area.

"Good grief," she said. "What animal lives here?"

"Blo . . . uh, I mean Fred."

"Which one is he?"

"The big kid with the shaved head."

"Where is he now?"

"Uh, that's me," said Fred, waving to her from the next room.

"Ah. You're the one who isn't ill." She moved to confront him. "Have you seen the state of this room?"  
"Yeah, I need my stuff out where I can get to it."  
"Then maybe you need less stuff."

Fred winced.

"Let me finish my rounds," she suggested, "and then I'll come help you tidy up."  
"Uh . . . okay."

Back at the Institute, Xavier waited for word on his students. He was getting worried. Someone should have called by now . . .

As if reading his mind, the phone started ringing at that moment...

"Hello?"  
"Professor?"  
"Yes. Who is this?"

"It's Brenda."

"Glad to see you're feeling better . . ."

"I'm afraid I'm going to be here a spell longer, Professor. Gran's got her hands full with this lot . . ."

"I can imagine."  
  
Lance was refusing to take his medicine as well.

Every time Mrs. Ellis or Storm tried to give it to him, the floor started shaking.  
Finally Mrs. Ellis could take it no more. "Now stop this! You're practically an adult--act your age!"

"That stuff smells like skunk!"

"So hold your nose and take it!"  
"How about I just **don't** take it?

Storm and Mrs. Ellis both rolled their eyes...

"I'll leave this here," the older woman said. "I'll check when I come back if you've taken it. I suggest that you do. You don't look well at all."  
"I'm okay," Lance said, not wanting to tell her about the funny feeling in his stomach. He was afraid he might throw up.

And sure enough, before she had gotten more than three feet away . . . Lance barfed all over her shoes.

"Sorry!" he said. "I'm sorry, I couldn't . . . couldn't help it . . ."  
She stepped out of the shoes and went to him. "It's all right, dear. I know you couldn't." She laid a gentle hand on his forehead . . . and he opened up to take the medicine.

"That's more like it." She spooned it into his mouth, wiping away the dribbles with a damp washcloth. "I'll be right back, so don't go anywhere."  
She drew Storm aside and said, "Has a doctor looked at these children?"

"There's one here right now."

"Good. I think they're getting worse. Either that or this is coming in waves. How are the rest of them?"

"They're starting to turn the corner."

"Well, that's a relief. We can concentrate on the ones that are getting worse."  
"Who's getting worse?" asked Kitty.

"Dear, shouldn't you be in bed?" Mrs. Ellis asked.   
"It's too hot upstairs. I can't sleep."  
"Funny, it didn't seem that hot to me . . ."

Just then, Kitty fainted.

Mrs. Ellis looked at Storm. "You said that doctor was here?"  
"Yes, he is."  
"I think he has his work cut out for him."

(Next chapter has more Mystique! You didn't think she was just gonna go away, did you? Don't forget to review!)


	8. Not Out of the Woods Yet

**Really, I AM Dying! (pt. 8)**

Magneto had gone back to the hospital to see Mystique.

When he got there, she was looking a little better.

"Raven."

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to see if you were all right...."

"Of course I'm not all right! They're threatening to stick a tube up my--"

"Language, Mystique."

"What? We're not in front of the children!"

"But there might be children in the next room."

"Why would there be . . ." She looked around. She didn't know why she hadn't noticed it before . . . the brightly colored wallpaper, the stuffed animals, the cartoon tapes by the TV . . .  
"This is the Pediatric Ward, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yes. It was the only ward that they had any room for you in."

She gave him a dubious look. "In this entire hospital, this was the only room they had?"  
"At the moment."  
"It's a big hospital!"  
"There was a major accident coming off the highway. Seven-car pileup."

"Seven?"

"Multiple accident victims, possibly as many as fifty or sixty. Some badly injured."  
"And I'm just dying of icky-poo."

Magneto looked at her strangely. "Icky poo?"

"Just trying to blend in with my surroundings."

"I see."

"How are the children?" she asked.

"Some of them are starting to turn the corner, but most are still suffering from the virus..."

"All of them?"  
Magneto nodded. "That's what they tell me."  
"Who's looking after them, then?"

"Storm and Brenda Ellis' grandmother." Magneto said.

"Ah. In good hands, then."

"Especially from Xavier told me about Mrs. Ellis."

"Remind me to send her a nice fruit basket or something." Mystique shifted her position, then shifted back when she realized that her hospital gown hadn't moved with her. "Actually, for putting up with those idiots, I should give her a medal."

Magneto started to laugh.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing. It's just that...." He didn't know how to tell her, exactly.

"Yes?"

"Well . . . The way you talked about giving Mrs. Ellis a medal . . .it's been a long time since I've heard you joke like that."

"It's been so long since I've had a reason to joke," she said.

Magneto had to admit she had a point.

"When are they planning on releasing you?"  
"I think they said tomorrow, if all goes well."

As far as Mrs. Ellis and Storm were concerned, tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.  
On the "getting worse" list were Lance and Scott, not to mention Kitty, and Spyke.

The less-serious ones were helping Mrs. Ellis in the kitchen, looking like a little platoon of spotted elves.

In the middle were Toad and Brenda, who were too sick to help but not quite in the serious range.

All of a sudden, Mrs. Ellis got an idea....

"Why don't we," she said, "all sit down for a minute."

"I can't sit down," moaned Kitty. "I'm gonna barf . . ."

Kurt grabbed a bucket.

"Can I help, Mrs. Ellis?" Lance said.

"No, **I'm** helping!" Kurt insisted.

"Now, boys..." Mrs. Ellis chided them both.

"I vas here first!" Kurt said.

"No, I was!" Lance insisted.

"That is enough!"

Kurt and Lance flinched.

"If both of you can be civil to each other, you can both take care of her."

"OK . . ."

The most surprising development, though, was Fred rolling out blankets for Brenda and Todd on the living-room floor.

"What are you doing?"

Fred put the blanket down and said, "You've got to stay down here now."

"But my room's upstairs," Kitty insisted.

"It's far easier to keep an eye on all of you," said Mrs. Ellis, with a meaningful glance towards Todd and Brenda, "when I can see where you are."

Kitty had to admit she had a point.

Lunch was served, even though not everyone felt like eating. In fact, most of them couldn't look food in the face. (Not that it had a face, of course.)

Even Fred had trouble keeping anything down. They thought he had it at last, but it turned out to be a bad carton of Chinese food.

"You OK, Fred?"

"Uhhhhhhh . . ."

Mrs. Ellis didn't like the sound of that. "Somebody get a bucket," she said, and Kurt rushed to comply.

"I think we should call the hospital," said Brenda. "We may need a more thorough checkup."

"But how would we get you all there at once?"

"Uh . . . the bus?" said Fred.

"I could try," Kurt said, "but I've never done more zhan vun ozzer person before."

"You can teleport?" Mrs. Ellis murmured in astonishment.

"_Ja_, but not ten people all at vunce."  
"Maybe you could take us one or two at a time," Brenda suggested.

"You'd need a crane to teleport Fred," Lance said.

"If I could get up," the larger boy warned him, "I'd hurt you."

Brenda gave Lance a disapproving look.

"What?"

"You know what."

"We could hire a bus," Wanda suggested.

Finally, though, it was decided that they should contact Xavier and have him send the Blackbird to pick them up and deliver them to the nearest hospital.

Wolverine volunteered to pilot.

He regretted his decision, though, as soon as the kids were all loaded on board.

"Geez, Fred, what've you been eatin'?"

"Shut up!"  
"**Everyone** shut up! I'm getting a headache."

They passed the rest of the flight in silence . . .

Well, mostly silence.

"Stop touching me!"  
"I wasn't touching you!"  
"You were **leaning** on me!"

"I was NOT!"

"Shut up or you're walkin' home!" Wolverine called back to them.

That kept them quiet the rest of the way.

When they reached the hospital, Mrs. Ellis and Xavier were waiting for them, along with the doctors.

They hustled the children into a high-security wing.  
"This is just a precaution," the lead doctor said. "This virus may not even spread to humans."  
At the shocked and angry looks he received, he said, "I meant normal humans. Not like you. Whatever."

"You haven't dealt with mutants much, have you?" Scott asked him skeptically.

"Can't say that I have," the man snapped.

"Good thing you came along, then, Charles," Ororo told the professor.

The hospital staff grouped the cases together by degree of symptoms; unfortunately, this meant that Scott and Lance were cooped up together again.

"Is there any way," Logan asked, "you can put the security guys **inside** the rooms, where we need 'em?"

The doctor looked at Logan. "Is there a problem?"

"You can say that again . . ."

By a curious coincidence, this happened to be the same hospital where Mystique found herself the talk of the children's ward.

The strain of trying to keep herself camouflaged was wearing her out. Oh, for a private room, where she could be herself!

At last she was transferred . . .

But when she saw where she was, she nearly begged to be back where she had been.  
She was in a private wing . . . with Pietro and the others.

"Uh . . . hi."  
"What are **you** doing here?"  
"They just brought us in. Uh . . ." He looked at her strangely. "I think someone tried to connect your dots."

"What?" She looked down at herself, and saw red pen marks across her legs. "Oh...my.... God."

"Oh, don't worry, I think it looks good on you."

"Does it wash off? Please tell me it washes off!"

Pietro looked at her legs again. "I'm not sure..."

Mystique panicked and rang for the nurse, who wasn't in a good mood after having to referee the battle in the next room.

"What's _your_ problem?" she grumbled at Mystique.

"Take a look." Mystique gestured angrily at her dot-connected legs.

The nurse stared... "Why did you do that to yourself?"  
"I didn't do this! Somebody else did!"  
"Come with me." the nurse said, leading Mystique to an empty room." We'll see what we can do..."

As she scrubbed off the ink marks, a near-riot erupted next door.

"Tell him to stay on his side!"  
"I **am** on my side! He's the one moving!"  
"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Really, can't you two act your age?" the nurse grumbled.

Both boys sheepishly bowed their heads...

"Sorry."  
"Yeah, sorry."

With that, the nurse left.

The room assignments were as follows:  
  
ROOM 1: Mystique and Pietro  
ROOM 2: Lance, Scott and Kitty  
ROOM 3: Rogue, Todd, and Brenda  
ROOM 4: everyone else, including Kurt and Wanda, who were being held for observation even though they hadn't developed any symptoms yet.

In the lobby, Xavier waited with Storm and Magneto for an update.

"Could that doctor have been any ruder?" Magneto complained.

"I doubt it," Storm said.

"Hear hear." Xavier added.

Finally the doctor arrived. "They seem to be responding to the treatment," he said. "The only one who's still on the critical list is Toad. His fever keeps spiking up . . ."

"Up?" Magnus didn't like the way that sounded.

"No matter what we try and do to bring it down, it keeps shooting back up again. It's around 104 this time around."

"What else is wrong?" asked Storm.

"Apart from those other boys fighting all the time, everything's just peachy."

"What is it with those two?"

Logan arrived with Jean in tow. "What's the situation?" he asked. 

Ororo quickly reviewed the facts for him.

"Maybe we can move them to separate rooms?"

"If we can _find_ separate rooms for them."

"Maybe one of them can switch with someone."  
"I dunno . . . that might just make matters worse."  
There was a crash from down the hall, and a nurse came running.  
"Can it **get** worse than this?"

"Probably."

"What's wrong now?" Logan asked.  
The nurse said, "They're not responding as well as we'd hoped to treatment."

"What do you mean? What's happening?"

"Two of them are starting to show signs of relapse."

"Which two?"

"Todd Tolensky and Scott Summers."

"What's wrong with Scott?" Jean asked. The last she'd heard, he'd been getting better.

"In his case, the virus appears to have mutated . . ."

"In what way?"

"It's started attacking his lungs."

Jean nearly fainted . . .  
"Will he be all right?" asked Logan.

"We don't know yet."

"When will we know?" Magneto demanded.

Just then . . . they heard loud coughing from Scott and Lance's room.

"That doesn't sound good."

As bad as they sounded, though, they looked even worse.

It was spreading (again), and at the worst possible time, too. Just when they'd thought it was over . . .****


	9. Even Worse News (If That's Possible)

**Really, I AM Dying! (pt. 9)**

The doctor didn't waste time quarantining Scott and Lance's rooms. "Hopefully it won't spread," he said, his tone indicating that he hoped it did, and that everyone involved would drop dead of it.

Xavier noticed that tone. "Perhaps we should take them to another hospital."

"Something wrong with this one?" the doctor questioned him defensively.

Wolverine nearly decked the insensitive jerk, but Xavier preferred to look for a less violent solution.

"C'mon, Professor . . ." Wolverine grumbled.

"Excuse me," Xavier called out to a young man in a lab coat, "Do you know where I can find the Administration wing?"  
The doctor turned around. "Let me guess. Dr. Armstrong giving you a hard time?"  
"You ain't kidding," said Logan.  
The young doctor (his name tag said DR. MARTIN) smiled. "We've been getting a lot of complaints about him," he said, as he led them onto the elevator. "He's an absolute genius in his field--written countless papers on isolating disease-causing genes--but nine times out of ten, genius equals tactless jerk."

"I may be judging prematurely," said Xavier, "but at times I've gotten the impression that Dr. Armstrong harbors some latent anti-mutant prejudices . . ."  
Dr. Martin whistled. "Don't get him started on the mutant thing."

"Can we trade him in for some other doctor who isn't a total jerk?"

"Let me call Dr. Stringfield in Personnel."

Back in the kids' rooms, they were passing the time by watching TV. The only thing on that looked remotely interesting was Mystery Science Theater 3000. They were showing something about giant alien mutants terrorizing a city. And not very lifelike monsters at that.

"This is an insult to all mutantkind!"

"You said it, Boss Lady."

"What would you rather watch? Ghostbusters badly dubbed into Spanish? The all-bowling channel? Or the soccer match on the other side of the world, also in Spanish?"

The room assignments had been shifted again, which meant that Kurt was now sandwiched between an enraged Toad and a terrified Pietro.

"OK, OK," Wolverine said, "mind telling me why you three are tryin' to kill each other?"

"Ask him." Toad, Pietro, and Kurt all pointed fingers at each other.

"Okay, don't tell me."

"I didn't do anything!"

"Yeah you did!"

"All of you knock it off right NOW!"

That got their attention in a hurry.

"Okay, ve'll be good," Kurt said. "IF he keeps his . . . things away from me."

"That's no way to talk about my--"

"Your what?" Toad snapped.

"My creations."

"You mean those stupid things?"

"They are not stupid!"

"They're **dolls."  
"They are ****not dolls!" Pietro insisted. "They're twelve-inch collectible action figures!"  
"Look like dolls to me, yo."**

"You're asking for it, Tolensky . . ."

"Give me those!" Logan grabbed them away.  
"Hey!"  
"I'm just gonna hold onto them until you can behave like civilized people."  
"Yeah, look who's talking," Pietro muttered under his breath.

Logan shot him a glare. "What was that?"

"Uh . . . nothing."

"Vere's Kitty?" asked Kurt.

"She's in the Red room."  
"Red room?"  
"The serious cases."

Kurt looked horrified. "Kitty's serious?"  
"She's borderline, way I hear it . . ."  
  


Just then, Toad started going into convulsions.

"Toad!"

"Somebody get a doctor!"

Several people in white coats came running in, and immediately went to work on Toad. 

"What's going on?" asked Mrs. Ellis.  

"We're not sure yet. Please stand back."

Brenda turned to her grandmother. "He's not dying, is he?"

Mrs. Ellis didn't know what to say. "Maybe we'd better let them work right now."

So they stood off to one side . . .

Eventually things were under control.

"Brenda?" Toad said.

"Todd!" She was so overjoyed that he was still alive that she nearly crushed his sternum.

"You're squishing me, yo!" he croaked.

"Sorry." She backed off.  
One of the doctors explained what had happened. It seemed he'd had an allergic reaction to the medication they'd given him.

"Man, I never want to go through that again." Toad sighed.

"Let's hope you won't have to," Mrs. Ellis said. "How are the other boys?"

"Scott and Lance are still in rough shape." Evan said.

"This just never ends, does it?"

Wolverine went to the Administration office to see if anything had been done about the doctor with the attitude problem . . . but he couldn't get near the place. The hospital was like a maze. Finally he stopped someone to ask them.

They were, understandably, unnerved by his adamantium claws, which had popped out due to all the stress. Several people tried to call hospital security, but the switchboard was jammed.

Finally, however, someone answered him. "Down the hall."

"Thanks." Logan kept rubbing his forearms to try and retract the claws . . .

Brenda continued to watch over Toad. "They've got you on something different now," she said, "so that won't happen again. Most of us are starting to get better now . . ."

"Check under Pietro's bed for more dolls," Toad suggested.

Logan came back with the new doctor.

"What can I do for you, Professor Xavier?" the new doctor asked. He was about the same age as Dr. Martin but darker of complexion. His nametag read DR. LEWIS.

Xavier explained the current situation . . . and to his obvious relief, the doctor showed no signs of hostility or prejudice.

"Where's Brenda Ellis?" Dr. Lewis asked.

"That would be me." Brenda looked almost normal now; the angry red spots she'd had on her arrival home a few days ago were now almost completely gone.

"Would you like to sit down on the exam table, please?"

"Sure." So she sat.

The doctor looked her over, then did a series of blood tests.

Meanwhile everyone was waiting on pins and needles to see if they were finally getting better, or if this thing had mutated again.

When the test results came back . . . they could breathe again. Whatever it was, it was going away.  
Almost.

"Thank goodness." Mrs. Ellis said.

There was still the matter of Scott and Lance, who were still taking a turn for the worse.

"Can you give them something?" asked Wanda nervously.

"We can try."

Everyone waited anxiously as the doctor injected Lance and Scott with something.

Hours seemed to crawl by like centuries . . . but finally, their coughing ceased.

"Keep your fingers crossed, kids." Logan said to his comrades.

Suddenly they heard a voice from the TV in the next room say, "A fugitive warrant has been issued for Marco Sandoval*...."

"Oh, no!"  
"Relax," Logan said. "Even if he gets very far, he'll never find us here--"

But at that moment, a security guard rushed in and told them, "We need to move you people to a secure wing."

"Son of a--" Toad started to grumble. "Let me at that guy! I'll show him a thing or--"

"Kid," Logan said, "you're in no position to show anybody anything."

With that Xavier, Magneto, and the rest of the group evacuated . . .

*remember him? If not, see "I'm Still Dying!"

  
 


	10. The Final Threat

**Really, I AM Dying! (pt. 10)**

"He's a doctor," Ororo said. "He could already be here."

Magneto clenched his fists. "If he's here," he said, "I'll find him."

"Whoa, Magnus." Wolverine said. "We don't want to cause any more trouble than we already have, just by being here."

"Strange, coming from you." Magneto said...

"Look, our major concern right now is getting the kids better."  
"I should think a madman running loose would be hazardous to their health!"

Storm finally terminated the debate by saying, "Can we call a truce until this is all over?"

Before Magneto, Wolverine, or Xavier could reply, the door burst open.  
It was Dr. Armstrong, also known as "pain-in-the-butt". "What is going on here?" he demanded.

"We got a problem." Wolverine said. "Marco Sandoval."  
"He's escaped from prison," Magneto explained, "and we need to evacuate the children--"  
KABOOM!!

"What the hell was that?"

"I don't know," Wolverine growled, "but I don't like it."  
"You guard the others." Magneto told him. "Charles, come with me. I have a sinking feeling Sandoval's behind this . . ."

"Don't leave us alone!" begged Wanda.  
"Chill, we're not alone, yo." Toad managed to croak. "We're all together . . ."

Magneto and Xavier, accompanied by Storm, went to go find out who or what had invaded the hospital, hoping it wasn't who they thought it was.

Unfortunately . . . it was exactly what they thought it was.

"Sandoval." Magneto spat.

He wasn't even bothering with a disguise. "Long time no see, Magnus."

"Why waste time with small talk?" Magneto raised his arms . . . and hurled a devastating magnetic bolt at Sandoval which hurled him out the door onto the hospital grounds.

But Sandoval wasn't giving up easy. He had brought a few little surprise packages with him--like a de-magnetizer.

But he had nothing to defend himself against psychic attacks . . . which Xavier sprang on him at that moment.

"Aagghh!" Sandoval, clutching his head, staggered back, and toppled to the ground. But he wasn't out yet. He drew a gun . . . and fired before Magneto could yank it from his hand.

The bullet came for Magneto's chest . . . and something blurred in front of him . . .

"Pietro?"

The boy caught the bullet in midair, and then used it to knock the gun from Sandoval's hand.

Then, when the threat was safely dealt with . . . he passed out.

When he came to a half-hour later . . . he was back in his hospital bed.  
"What happened?" he asked. "Did I get him?"

"You got him." It was Dr. Armstrong. "That was pretty impressive," he admitted grudgingly.

"You see?" Xavier said. "Mutants aren't all bad. We're just like anyone else."

The door opened and Wanda rushed in. "Is he all right?"

"I think so," Pietro said. "Sorry if I scared you."

"It's OK, Boo . . ."

He reached up . . . and touched something odd on her face. Some kind of discoloration, or . . .  
Oh, no!

"Have you got it too, Wanda?"

"Got what?"  
He pointed to what was now clearly becoming a red spot.  
"Oh, no . . ."

Mrs. Ellis turned to the doctor. "Here we go again . . ."

(Sorry this is short! The epilogue is coming soon!)


	11. Epilogue

**Really, I AM Dying! (Epilogue)**

Sandoval was returned to prison, this time in the maximum-security wing. He never got out again.

Upon their release from the hospital, Mrs. Ellis put the younger X-Men and Brotherhood members up at a friend's house, where they spent the next three days recovering in peace.  
  


Wanda stayed in the hospital for a few days before going home with her father.

"I have to go away for a while," he said.

"Why is that?"

"I have . . . business to attend to."  
"You're not going to hurt anyone, are you?"  
Magneto's expression darkened. "Not anyone who doesn't deserve it."

At the Institute, Xavier gave his students the rest of the week off to recuperate. Danger Room sessions would start up again the following Monday. 

At the Brotherhood house, Mystique let the boys watch the big TV in her room. Everyone except Fred curled up together on her king-size bed. 

"When's Wanda coming home?" she asked during a commercial break.

"Tomorrow, I think," Pietro said. 

"Do we have to clean up?" Fred asked, from his position on the floor.

"I think that would be a good idea."

At the hospital, Dr. Armstrong was thinking about appealing the complaint Professor Xavier had lodged against him.

But first, there was something he had to do.  
He left the hospital and took a walk into town. Shortly he reached his destination.  
He didn't have to think about where he was going. He'd been there at least three times a week for the past five years. Two rows down, five rows over from the main walkway.  
He knelt beside the stone, his hands running over the carved letters: ARMSTRONG, ELIZABETH ANNE 1986-1997

Ironically, Elizabeth had wanted to become an instructor at Professor Xavier's school when she grew up.  She thought mutants were cool, and was convinced she would have powers in a few years.  
Then one night, she was walking home from a friend's house and . . . something grabbed her. 

She'd been teetering on the edge of an abandoned bridge, and a homeless mutant pulled her to safety just in the nick of time. Unfortunately, a few hours earlier he'd gotten in a brutal fight with another mutant, and his vanquished enemy, being in a vengeful mood, tracked him down, slit his throat, and hurled Elizabeth off the bridge to a gruesome death 200 feet below. 

Maybe he had been wrong, Dr. Armstrong thought, to hate all mutants for the actions of a few, but it had been his first response, and he'd been feeling it so long . . . 

He had promised her, right here, that he would find whoever or whatever did this to her, and punish him . . . even if it took the rest of his life.  

 Maybe . . .  
No, it was a bad idea. They'd never trust him.  
On the other hand, what did he have to lose?  
  
The doorbell rang at the mansion.  
"I'll get it!" 

Kitty opened it and almost died of shock when she saw Dr. Armstrong there. "How did you...?"

"The address was on your release form. Could I come in?"

Kitty turned to Xavier . . .

He nodded. "Let him in."

Dr.Armstrong stepped in. "First of all," he said, "I want to apologize for the way I acted."

He took a deep breath . . . and told them the whole story.

"Oh, God . . ." Jean gasped.

"I'd like to find this mutant if I could," he said. "Do you think you can help me?"

"I think I have an idea where the killer might be." Magneto said.

"Where?"

Magneto showed him a map. "You leave this to me . . . and my special operatives. We'll find him."

Across town, the mutant that had killed Elizabeth Armstrong slipped into the sewers unseen. He had business to attend to at the hospital . . . or so he thought.

He wanted to finish what he'd started, this time leaving no witnesses.  
But someone found him first--and not someone he wanted to meet.  
"Going somewhere?" Sabretooth growled.

"Back off, Creed." his opponent snarled. "Armstrong's mine."

"You killed that little girl!"  
"So? You never killed before?"  
"Not anyone who didn't deserve it."

Storm appeared from behind Sabretooth . . . and Wolverine wasn't far behind.

"Let's see how you like messing around with somebody your own size." Wolverine growled.

"Three against one. Real fair of you."

"Considering what you're capable of," Storm retorted, "that just about evens up the odds."  
A peculiar light flashed in the mutant killer's eyes. "You have no idea what I'm capable of."

Wolverine lunged at the killer... who had some fancy moves of his own. He put up an energy barrier between himself and Wolverine...

"This guy's good."

The mutant turned on Storm. In addition to the barrier, he could use energy beams like a knife to cut and slash.  
"AAAH!"

Just then . . . the cavalry arrived.  
So to speak.

"Try picking on someone your own size, yo!"

"Let me at 'im!" Blob bellowed.

The killer hurled a blast of energy at Toad and Blob . . . only to have Kitty save them by tackling him at the knees and knocking him off his feet. Then, before he could recover, she phased through him . . . which provided the perfect opportunity for Cyclops to deliver the final blow.

Using his optic blast, Cyclops brought a chunk of concrete down on the killer, pinning him under it.

"You'll never prove anything," the mutant sneered.  
"We don't have to. Our eyewitness will do the talking."

The mutant's eyes widened. "What witness?"

"Oh, we have several. We'll have no trouble at all getting a conviction . . ."

"See, bub, you weren't exactly alone the night you killed that kid . . ."

"Of course I was!"  
"You forget about the other folks living under the bridge. But that's okay, a lot of people do. They tend to be kind of invisible most of the time . . . until something like this happens."

"Am ah missin' anything?"  
"Yeah, we wanna hear this too, yo." The kids crowded as close as they could.

"On your feet." Sabretooth cleared the debris off the homicidal mutant and hauled him upright. "The cops should be here by now."

Dr.Armstrong approached his daughter's killer. "I've waited a long time for this," he said.

He reached down to the mutant killer . . . and grabbed him by the collar.  
"Anyone who kills a child is lowlife scum," he said, "but you didn't even care about her. She was human and she was in your way, and the fact that she might have had a family, and a life, and a future, meant nothing to you. You swatted her like a bug."

The mutant killer looked as if he might have a heart attack. "You can't hurt me!"  
"No . . . I can't. But I can see that you get put away for a long time."

The cops took the evil mutant away . . .  
He ended up in the same prison as Marco Sandoval. In fact, they were cellmates. Until word got around that Sandoval was a mutant-hater . . . after which he was quickly transferred. He spent the rest of his time at the prison hiding in the laundry room, convinced that everyone was out to get him.

In the end . . . they did. But that's another story.

"I owe you all an apology," Dr. Armstrong said. "If you ever need anything, just call me . . ."

"If we can get through the hospital switchboard . . ."Kurt joked.

Armstrong shook his head and handed them a card. "That's my home number," he said. "Don't abuse it, but . . . don't hesitate to call if you need something."  
"I'm sure we will," Wolverine said. "These kids have been sick a lot lately."

"Listen, Doctor,"Kitty said.

"Yes?"

"Could you show me where Elizabeth's buried?"

He seemed a bit taken aback by the question. "Of course I can. Maybe tomorrow."

The following afternoon, everyone gathered at the cemetery for an impromptu memorial service.

It was an odd thing to do for someone they'd never met . . . but it seemed fitting.

Toad and Kitty placed flowers beside the stone, while Jean and Mystique lit a pair of candles.

The second one represented the mutant who'd tried to save her; no one knew where he was buried. He probably didn't have any family . . . so Xavier spoke in their place.  
At the end of his service, they split up, awkwardly. The Brotherhood made some excuses about homework and stuff, but Mystique lingered to talk to the doctor.

"I don't suppose you make house calls?" she asked.  
"I might consider it. Why do you ask?"  
She waved a hand at the rest of the Brotherhood. "I swear they go out and find germs to bring home. It probably won't be a week before they've got something else."

She hesitated for a second, then added "And then give it to me."

"Muzzer," Kurt said, "you could come live vith us."  
It was an intriguing offer, but . . . it would be very awkward for all parties concerned.

Besides, who would keep those idiots from destroying the house if she wasn't there?  
She said as much to Kurt.  
"I meant all of you," he said. "Zhere's plenty of room for everyvun."  
That was an even worse idea, in her opinion.

Still . . . it was something to think about, for the future . . .

THE END

(Wanna see a sequel? Let me know in your review!)


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